Network facsimile apparatus

ABSTRACT

A communication apparatus is connected to a terminal apparatus via a network. The communication apparatus includes a memory that stores image data and a storage period of the image data and a checker that determines whether a storage time of the image data exceeds the storage period time. A deleter deletes image data based on a determination by the checker section and a server transmits an instruction for changing the storage period to the terminal apparatus in accordance with a request by the terminal apparatus, wherein the storage period is changeable from the terminal apparatus.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/314,960,filed May 20, 1999, the entire disclosure of which is expresslyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to a network facsimile apparatuscapable of performing transmission and reception of facsimile data ande-mail data connecting to a PSTN and a network such as the internet orLAN.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

[0003] Recently, it has been performed to connect a personal computer,work station, FAX server or the like to a network in order to transmitand receive an e-mail and facsimile and to browse homepages.

[0004]FIG. 1 illustrates a system structure of the case of performingfacsimile transmission and reception using a FAX server. The receptionoperation at a client machine (personal computer) will be describednext. FAX modem 1001 receives a call from the PSTN and fetches imagedata to transmit to FAX server 1002. FAX server software operating atFAX server 1002 receives the image data, and stores the image data as animage data file at file server 1003 through the network. At this point,the storage of facsimile received data is finished.

[0005] To fetch the received image data into client machine 1004, a userstarts a dedicated application at client machine 1004 and reads out theimage data from file server 1003 through the network.

[0006] Further, a method of reusing facsimile received data by combiningan internet FAX and a WWW server has been recently proposed. The methodutilizes the function of the internet FAX which converts data receivedfrom the PSTN into an e-mail.

[0007]FIG. 2 illustrates a system structure of the case of performingfacsimile transmission and reception using an internet FAX and a WWWserver. The reception operation at the client machine will be described.

[0008] Image data received at internet FAX 1101 via the PSTN isconverted into an attached file format to an e-mail at internet FAX 1101and is transmitted to WWW server 1103 as an attached file of e-mail.

[0009] The e-mail with the attached file transferred from internet FAX1101 is received at e-mail server 1102 via a network. The e-mail withthe attached file received at e-mail server 1102 is transferred to WWWserver 1103 that is a destination again via the network.

[0010] WWW server 1103 stores the attached file of e-mail as image datato link to a homepage for facsimile reception. The storage of facsimilereceived data is finished at this point.

[0011] In order to fetch received data into client machine 1104, a userstarts a WWW browser at client machine 1104 and accesses to the homepagefor facsimile reception at WWW server 1103. The user reads out an imagedata file at client machine 1104 via the network from WWW server 1103.

[0012] However, in the system using the above described FAX server,since image data is transferred from the FAX server to the file serverand further transferred from the file server to the client machine untilthe client machine receives facsimile received data, there is a problemthat network traffic is increased.

[0013] In addition, in the system using the above described FAX serverand the WWW server, since image data is transferred from the internetFAX to the e-mail server, further transferred from the e-mail server tothe WWW server, and furthermore transferred from the WWW server to theclient machine until the client machine receives facsimile receiveddata, there is a problem that network traffic is increased. Since imagedata attached to e-mail has a data capacity approximately 1.3 times thatof binary data, the network traffic is further increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0014] An object of the present invention is to provide a networkfacsimile apparatus which is able to decrease network traffic caused bydata transmission.

[0015] The present invention provides a network facsimile apparatuswhich has a WWW sever inside the apparatus, and is able to generate astructured document of reception list to provide to a client in homepageformat in order to provide received data selected in the reception listto the client.

[0016] Further, the present invention provides a network facsimileapparatus which is able to provide a received document (reception list)from the WWW server installed inside the network facsimile apparatus, todisplay a structured document for address book or device setting to aclient, and to easily rewrite the structured document for address bookor device setting in response to a request from the client.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The above and other objects and features of the invention willappear more fully hereinafter from a consideration of the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing whereinone example is illustrated by way of example, in which;

[0018]FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of facsimile transmission andreception system using a FAX server;

[0019]FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of facsimile transmission andreception system using an internet FAX and a WWW server;

[0020]FIG. 3 is a function block diagram of a network facsimileapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a system in which the networkfacsimile apparatus according to the above embodiment is connected to aclient machine;

[0022]FIG. 5 is a function block diagram illustrating a flow of a partof processing in the network facsimile apparatus according to the aboveembodiment;

[0023]FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an operation to generate a reception listin the network facsimile apparatus according to the above embodiment;

[0024]FIG. 7 is a structure diagram of a reception list managementtable;

[0025]FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a data example of a source fileof a reception list html;

[0026]FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an operation for transmitting datareceived and stored at the network facsimile apparatus according to theabove embodiment;

[0027]FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a file relation table of HTMLfiles managed by the network facsimile apparatus according to the aboveembodiment;

[0028]FIG. 11 is a structure diagram of a homepage main page provided bythe network facsimile apparatus according to the above embodiment;

[0029]FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a WWW servercommunication section in the network facsimile apparatus according tothe above embodiment;

[0030]FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a documentlist generating section in the network facsimile apparatus according tothe above embodiment;

[0031]FIG. 14 is a structure diagram of an internet received documentpage provided by the network facsimile apparatus according to the aboveembodiment;

[0032]FIG. 15 is a structure diagram of a reception list delete pageprovided by the network facsimile apparatus according to the aboveembodiment;

[0033]FIG. 16 is a structure diagram of a reception list edit pageprovided by the network facsimile apparatus according to the aboveembodiment;

[0034]FIG. 17 is a structure diagram of a reception list move pageprovided by the network facsimile apparatus according to the aboveembodiment;

[0035]FIG. 18 is a structure diagram of an address book page provided bythe network facsimile apparatus according to the above embodiment;

[0036]FIG. 19 is a structure diagram of an address book add pageprovided by the network facsimile apparatus according to the aboveembodiment;

[0037]FIG. 20 is a structure diagram of an address book delete pageprovided by the network facsimile apparatus according to the aboveembodiment;

[0038]FIG. 21 is a structure diagram of an address book edit pageprovided by the network facsimile apparatus according to the aboveembodiment;

[0039]FIG. 22 is a flowchart of address book processing in the networkfacsimile apparatus according to the above embodiment;

[0040]FIG. 23 is a structure diagram of a storage period setting pagefor user setting provided by the network facsimile apparatus accordingto the above embodiment; and

[0041]FIG. 24 is a flowchart of a delete operation of file managementsection in the network facsimile apparatus according to the aboveembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0042]FIG. 3 illustrates a function block diagram of a network facsimileapparatus according to this embodiment. ROM 2, RAM 3 and externalstorage 4 are connected to CPU 1 that operates by an operating systemand is accessible to ROM 2, RAM 3 and external storage 4. Variousprograms such as processing program for a server side are stored at ROM2. RAM 3 is used, for example, as a working area of programs stored inROM 2. Compressed image data and HTML files are stored at externalstorage 4.

[0043] In addition, the network facsimile apparatus according to thisembodiment has scanner 5, printer 6, panel section 7,compression/expansion section 8, FAX/speech communication section 9 andnetwork controller 10 which operate under the control of CPU 1.

[0044] The network facsimile apparatus performs scanning of image dataof, for example, document by scanner 5, and performs printing of scannedimaged and received imaged data at printer 6. A user is able to performoperations such as an instruction to scan image data and an enter ofdestination address using panel section 7. Compression/expansion section8 performs expansion of received image data and compression of scannedimage data. FAX/speech communication section 9 performs facsimilecommunication and speech communication connecting to a PSTN. Networkcontroller 10 performs the internet communication connecting to anetwork.

[0045] The programs stored in ROM 2 includes each program for HTML filegenerating section 11, WWW server section 12, e-mail communicationsection 13 and TIFF conversion section 14. Although each function ofHTML file generating section 11, WWW server section 12, e-mailcommunication section 13 and TIFF conversion section 14 is providedunder the respective program executed by CPU 1, the respective functionwill be described using respective numeral symbol provided to therespective program as illustrated in FIG. 3 as a matter ofaccommodation.

[0046] HTML file generating section 11 is a function block that convertslists of image data received by facsimile and e-mail and other data intoHTML files readable on a homepage to register to a server.

[0047] WWW server section 12 provides a server function of, for example,performing communication with a WWW browser in accordance with HTTPprotocol to exchange homepage data (HTML file).

[0048] E-mail communication section 13 performs transmission andreception of e-mail via a network, while functions as an e-mail server.In addition, TIFF conversion section 14 provides a function ofconverting coded facsimile data and document file data into TIFF format.

[0049]FIG. 4 illustrates a system configuration in the case ofconnecting a network facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment toa PSTN and a network. In FIG. 4, network facsimile apparatus 201 isconnected to the PSTN while connected to the network through a networkinterface. It is possible to browse at client machine 202 a homepageprovided at network facsimile apparatus 201 by operating a WWW browserat client machine 202.

[0050]FIG. 5 illustrates a function block diagram for HTML filegenerating section 11, WWW server section 12, e-mail communicationsection 13, TIFF conversion section 14 and FAX/speech communicationsection 9 and a flow of data processing between the blocks.

[0051] In WWW server section 12, WWW server communication section 31communicates with a WWW browser operating at client machine 202 inaccordance with HTTP protocol. A command received at www servercommunication section 31 from client machine 202 is analyzed at CGIstring analysis section 32.

[0052] When a character sequence for the CGI processing is detected inthe received data, CGI string analysis section 32 provides the receiveddata to CGI application deciding section 33 and starts corresponding CGIapplication 34. CGI application 34 decodes the URL encoded received datato execute the predetermined processing. CGI application 34 includesapplications for, for example, transmission, processing such as delete,edit and move for HTML document, generation of address book, and devicesetting.

[0053] File providing section 35 receives a file, whose file request isprovided from client machine 202, from a file management section 36 toprovide to WWW server communication section 31. When the file requestdoes not requires the CGI processing, file providing section 35 requiresa corresponding file to file management section 36.

[0054] HTML file generating section 11 has document list generatingsection 37 that generates a HTML file of document list and address bookgenerating section 38 that generates a HTML file of address book.

[0055] Document list generating section 37 generates a HTML file ofreception list indicative of received e-mail and received FAX andperforms a delete, edit and move of a part of the HTML file according toan instruction provided from CGI application 34 and received data.

[0056] Address book generating section 38 modifies the HTML file ofaddress book according to an instruction from the address book CGIapplication and received data. Further, address book generating section38 executes processing to incorporate the latest address table data intothe HTML file of address book when power is turned on and the content ofthe address book is changed.

[0057] In addition, HTML file generating section 11 has communicationresult list generating section 39 and status information generatingsection 41. Communication result list generating section 39 receives loginformation indicative of communication result from FAX/speechcommunication section 9 and e-mail communication section 13 to generateand update the HTML file indicative of the communication result list.Status information generating section 41 fetches status signalsindicative of respect status from scanner 5, printer 6, panel section 7and FAX/speech communication section 9 (for example, eruption of paperstack, lack of toner and on-communication) to generate and update a HTMLfile in which the respective statuses are registered.

[0058] FAX/speech communication section 9 and e-mail communicationsection 13 each has a communication control section, storage processingsection and spooler. The communication control section of FAX/speechcommunication section 9 is connected to the PSTN and the communicationcontrol section of e-mail communication section 13 is connected tovarious networks, for example, the internet as a representative, througha LAN or dial-up.

[0059] The operation of the network facsimile apparatus according tothis embodiment will be described next. Hereinafter, each operation ofgeneration of reception list, edit of reception list, box move ofreception list, generation of address book and device setting will bedescribed separately.

[0060]FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an operation to generate areception list. The network facsimile apparatus registers the receptionlist of received data received at FAX/speech communication section 9 ande-mail communication section 13 to a homepage.

[0061] When a data reception occurs, it is decided whether the receptionis performed via the PSTN or the internet (ST401). When e-mailcommunication section 13 receives an e-mail, the reception is performedvia the internet. In this case, e-mail communication section 13 receivesthe e-mail (ST402). When attached data is image data in TIFF (Tag ImagesFile Format) that is a standard format for an image file, e-mailcommunication section 13 stores the image data at external storage 4providing a file name such as, for example, “mail0001.tif” (ST407). Whenattached data is speech data, e-mail communication section 13 stores thespeech data at external storage 4 providing a file name such as, forexample, “audio0001.wav” (ST407).

[0062] On the other hand, when FAX/speech communication section 9receives FAX data or speech data, the reception is performed via thePSTN. When the reception is performed via the PSTN, FAX/speechcommunication section 9 receives imaged data or speech data (ST403), anddecides whether or not the reception data is speech data (ST404). Whenthe received data is coded image data, FAX/speech communication section9 requests TIFF conversion section 14 to convert the coded data intoTIFF format (ST405). FAX/speech communication section 9 provides a filename (for example, “fax0001.tif”) to the TIFF-converted received data tostore at external storage 4 (ST407). When the received data is speechdata, FAX/speech communication section 9 converts the speech data intodigital data (ST406) and stores the speech file provided with a filename at external storage 4 (ST407).

[0063] After the received data is stored at external storage 4, HTMLfile generating section 11 adds the file name to the reception list andupdates the HTML file of reception list (ST408).

[0064] The update of the HTML file of reception list will be describedspecifically. Document list generating section 37 at HTML filegenerating section 11 updates the HTML file of reception list. Documentlist generating section 37 manages a reception list table stored atexternal storage 4. FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a structure of areception list management table. In the reception list management table,a document file name, registered data, a sender and a title areregistered for every document number that is provided in order ofreception.

[0065] Document list generating section 37 receives the document filename, registered data, sender and title from FAX/speech communicationsection 9 or e-mail communication section 13 that receives correspondingdata. Document list generating section 37 reads out the reception listthrough file management section 36, adds the document number to thereception list, and registers the document file name, registered data,sender and title to the reception list. Document list generating section37 returns the reception list in which the document name and the otheritems of the received data are registered to the reception list table,while reads out a reception list html (HTML file of reception list).

[0066]FIG. 8 illustrates a source file of reception list html generatedwith respect to the received data via a network. As illustrated in FIG.8, a comment line is inserted at a head for every reception list.Recognition data indicative of reception form and a document number aredescribed at the position of the comment line. The comment line isfollowed by a document number, data, sender and title that are describedin HTML document. An example of a structure of the reception listindicated based on the reception list html in FIG. 8 is illustrated inFIG. 14.

[0067] Document list generating section 37 converts a document number,data, sender and title of new received data into HTML document togenerate list data. Document list generating section 37 further searchesthe reception list html from the head to detect the first comment line(<!--) that is the first line of the current reception list, and insertslist data of the above-described new received data to the first line ofthe reception list. When the updated reception list html is returned toexternal storage 4, the list of the new received data is registered tothe homepage. Specifically, document list generating section 37 readsthe HTML file that is prepared in advance to indicate a reception listpage and writes a character sequence indicative of, for example,document number that is newly stored management data in the receptionlist table in order to edit. “00243” that is a character sequence of theedited document number is tagged with <A HREF=“fax0001.tif”>, therebythe character sequence “000243” is linked to ifax0001.tif that is thereceived file.

[0068] In addition, with respect to FAX reception list concerning FAXreceived image data and speech reception list concerning received speechdata, the lists are similarly generated in HTML document.

[0069] As described above, when FAX/speech communication section 9receives FAX data or e-mail communication section 13 receives an e-mail,since data necessary for the list generation (for example, sender andtitle) is input to document list generating section 37 and document listgenerating section 37 reads out the HTML file of reception list fromexternal storage 4 and adds the new data to the reception list, clientmachine 202 is able to obtain a supply of the latest reception list inhomepage format by accessing to WWW server section 12.

[0070] An operation of transmitting data received and stored at thenetwork facsimile apparatus to client machine 202 will be described nextaccording to a flowchart in FIG. 9.

[0071] The network facsimile apparatus is in a stand-by state until ahomepage address (URL address) is entered.

[0072] Client machine 202 connected to a network starts a WWW browser(homepage browsing software) and enters the URL address of the networkfacsimile apparatus to access the homepage (ST701).

[0073] In the network facsimile apparatus accessed, WWW server section12 initiates the processing through network controller 10. Fileproviding section 35 at WWW server section 12 responds to a command forrequesting a file of the homepage main page (index html) received fromclient machine 202 and reads out the corresponding file from externalstorage 4 to return to the WWW browser at client machine 202 (ST702).FIG. 10 illustrates a file relation table of the HTML files registeredat external storage 4. The files needed to display the homepage arerelated to the file of the homepage main page.

[0074] When the WWW browser at client machine 202 receives the file ofhomepage main page, the WWW browser analyzes the content and transmits acommand for requesting the files needed to display the homepage to WWWserver section 12 (ST703). For example, when the homepage main pageillustrated in FIG. 10 is displayed, the WWW browser requests filesnecessary for respective icon display of facsimile received document,internet received document, personal box, bulletin board document,address book, communication result report, user setting and setting list(sdoc.gif, kdoc.gif, etc. illustrated in FIG. 10) to WWW server section12.

[0075] When WWW server section 12 receives the request of files neededto display the homepage main page, WWW server 12 section transmits thefiles stored at external storage 4 to the WWW browser at client machine202 (ST704). Thus, the homepage of the network facsimile apparatus isdisplayed on a screen of client machine 202 (ST705). The networkfacsimile apparatus stands by until next selection is performed.

[0076] The network facsimile apparatus awaits until an icon that isdesired by a user is selected on the main page illustrated in FIG. 9displayed at client machine 202. For example, assume that “FAX receptionlist” is selected among from displayed data. When a “FAX reception list”icon is selected, a file request is generated for the FAX reception listthat is linked to a display position of the icon (ST706).

[0077] As illustrated in FIG. 10, the icon of “FAX reception list” islinked to the corresponding HTML file (fdoc.html). The WWW browser isable to display the FAX reception list using fdoc.html. When WWW serversection 12 receives the file request for fdoc.html, WWW server section12 reads out the corresponding file from external storage 4 to transmitto client machine 202 (ST707).

[0078] The WWW browser at client machine 202 displays a page of “FAXreception list” according to the HTML file of “FAX reception list”received from WWW server section 12 (ST708).

[0079] When a user selects an indication of a desired file number amongfrom the FAX reception list at the client machine (ST709), the networkfacsimile apparatus transmits an image data file (ST710). When it is notpossible to display the image data on the WWW browser at the clientmachine 202 (for example, file0001.tif), the image data is displayedusing the helper application to display the TIFF file (ST713).

[0080] The aforementioned example describes about the case of displayingFAX received data. However, when a speech file is selected, the speechdata linked to the speech file is played back at a speaker of the clientmachine. The speech data includes speech data that the user records at areceiver of the network facsimile apparatus besides the speech datareceived from outside, and it is possible to link these speech data tothe homepage and also to transmit toward outside.

[0081] The operation of WWW server section 12 will be described next.FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of WWW server section12. WWW server communication section 31 receives a request and returns areply from/to client machine 202 via a network by operating inaccordance with HTTP protocol. The types of requests that WWW servercommunication section 31 receives are principally separated into a filerequest and CGI processing request according to a command.

[0082] The received data (request) received at WWW server communicationsection 31 is provided to CGI string analysis section 32. CGI stringanalysis section 32 analyzes the CGI string using the received data.When the CGI processing is not executed (ST100), file providing section35 fetches the corresponding file from external storage 4 based on thedocument number contained in the received data to return to the client(ST101).

[0083] CGI string analysis section 32 decodes a URL encoded portion inthe received data (ST102). The decoded data that is the CGI stringanalysis result is provided to CGI application deciding section 33. WhenCGI application deciding section 33 makes an error decision, forexample, in the case where the decoded data requests the CGI processingbut the application name is not designated (ST104), CGI applicationdeciding section 33 provides an error notification to file providingsection 35 and fetches the HTML file for the error notification fromexternal storage 4 to transmit to the client machine (ST105).

[0084] When the error processing is not executed at ST104, theprocessing is executed according to the content of the CGI application.The CGI application supported by WWW server section 12 of thisembodiment includes delete, edit, move of various reception lists,generation and incorporation of address book and device setting.

[0085] As a result of the decision processing by CGI applicationdeciding section 33, when the decoded data requests to (1) delete thedesignated document number from a HTML file of a reception list (ST106),(2) replace the data of designated document number with the edited data,or (3) move the designated document number to anther HTML file ofanother reception list (ST108), CGI application deciding section 33executes respective reception list processing (ST109). The content ofthe reception list processing will be described later.

[0086] Further, as a result of the decision processing by CGIapplication deciding section 33, when the decoded data requests (4) toreflect the contents of the address book (added address, data delete anddata modification) in the HTML file of the address book (ST110), CGIapplication deciding section 33 provides the received data to theaddress book CGI application to execute address book processing (ST111).

[0087] Furthermore, as a result of the decision processing by CGIapplication deciding section 33, when the decoded data requests (5) toupdate the content of the device setting set at file management section36 (ST112), CGI application deciding section 33 provides the receiveddata to the device setting CGI application to execute update processingof setting flag of file management section 36 (ST113).

[0088] As the premise that the reception list processing is executed atST109 described above, the necessary data is entered on a HTML documentpage at client machine 202. At ST706 of the flowchart illustrated inFIG. 9, an internet reception list icon on the homepage main page (HTMLdocument page) is selected. According to the selection, the file requestof the HTML file linked to the internet reception list is performed toWWW server section 12.

[0089] At external storage 4 at the server side, the HTML file of theinternet reception list is registered as described above, and is updatedby document list generating section 37 whenever an e-mail reception isperformed. In WWW server section 12, file providing section 35 requestsfile management section 36 to read out the corresponding file inresponse to the file request from client machine 202, while transmitsthe read HTML file of the internet reception list to client machine 202.

[0090] The WWW browser at client machine 202 displays the internetreception list composed of HTML document according to the HTML file ofthe received internet reception list on a screen.

[0091]FIG. 14 illustrates a page of the internet reception list composedof the HTML document. In this embodiment, the page is composed of a listhaving document number, registered data, sender, title and check icon,and a frame menu in which icons of send, print, delete, edit and moveare lined up. It is thus possible to provide the internet receiveddocument page to a user.

[0092] A user selects a document number of operation object on theinternet received document page in FIG. 14. The document number isselected by checking a select-box. After selecting the document number,the user selects any operation from the frame menu.

[0093] In the case of selecting a “send” icon as an operation content,it is possible to send a file of document number indicated on thereception list to a destination address. When the “send” icon isselected, the WWW browser requests a HTML document composing a send pageto WWW server section 12. The send page has boxes to which a documentnumber to be sent and an destination address (FAX number or e-mailaddress) are entered. When the WWW browser at the client machineacquires the HTML document of the send page, the send page is displayedon a screen based on the HTML document. A user enters the documentnumber and destination address (FAX number or e-mail address) on thesend page and then pushes a determine-button. When the determine-buttonis pushed, the send CGI application is selected and the browsertransmits the request data in which the document number and destinationaddress are set to WWW server section 12.

[0094] WWW server section 12 starts the send CGI application whenreceives the request data. The document number and destination addressof the send object are provided to the corresponding communicationsection. For example, when the destination address is an e-mail address,the document number and the e-mail address of the destination addressare input to e-mail communication section 13. E-mail communicationsection 13 fetches the file of the designated document number fromexternal storage 4 through file management section 36 and makes the filean e-mail to send to the destination address.

[0095] In addition, when a user selects a “delete” icon, the WWW browserat the client machine 202 provides the file request for the HTML filelinked to the “delete” icon to WWW server section 12.

[0096] When WWW server section 12 receives the file request, WWW servercommunication section 31 notifies file providing section 35 of a filename of the HTML file linked to the “delete” icon. File providingsection 35 fetches the corresponding file from external storage 4through file management section 36 to transmit to client machine 202.FIG. 15 illustrates a structure example of a HTML document page used indeleting a document number from the reception list. The document numberselected previously is automatically inserted into a column for documentnumber.

[0097] The user confirms the document number as a delete object that isautomatically inserted into the column for document number and thenselects a determine-button. When the determine-button is selected, thedelete CGI application is selected as an application type and therequest data in which the document number of the delete object is set istransmitted to WWW server section 12.

[0098] In addition, in the case where the user selects an “edit” iconafter selecting the document number of the processing object, the WWWbrowser at client machine 202 provides the file request for the HTMLfile linked to the “edit” icon to WWW server section 12.

[0099] When WWW server section 12 receives the file request, WWW servercommunication section 31 notifies file providing section 35 of a filename of the HTML file linked to the “edit” icon. File providing section35 fetches the corresponding file from external storage 4 through filemanagement section 36 to transmit to client machine 202. FIG. 16illustrates a structure example of the HTML document page used inediting a document number, title, sender and other items of thereception list.

[0100] The document number selected previously, title and others areautomatically inserted into a column for the edit object. When adetermine-button is pushed, the edit CGI application is selected as anapplication type, and the request data in which the document number ofthe edit object is set is transmitted to WWW server section 12.

[0101] In addition, in the case where the user selects a “move” icon,the WWW browser at client machine 202 provides the file request for theHTML file linked to the “move” icon to WWW server section 12.

[0102] When WWW server section 12 receives the file request, WWW servercommunication section 31 notifies file providing section 35 of a filename of the HTML file linked to the “move” icon. File providing section35 fetches the corresponding file from external storage 4 through filemanagement section 36 to transmit to client machine 202. FIG. 17illustrates a structure example of the HTML document page used in movinga document number on the reception list.

[0103] The document number that is selected before the “move” icon isselected is automatically inserted into a column for the documentnumber. The user enters corresponding folder names into a column for afolder from which the document is moved (source folder) and anothercolumn for another folder to which the document is moved (targetfolder). When a determine-button is selected, the move CGI applicationis selected as an application type, and the request data in which thedocument number of the move object is set is transmitted to WWW serversection 12.

[0104] As described above, the request data for requesting the CGIprocessing is transmitted from client machine 202 to WWW server section12. As illustrated in the flowchart in FIG. 12, in WWW server section12, the CGI string data that is analyzed by CGI string analysis section32 using the received data (request data) is provided to CGI applicationdeciding section 33 and a corresponding CGI application is decided.

[0105] When the delete, edit and move applications are executed, thecorresponding CGI application provides an instruction and received datacorresponding to the processing content to document generating section37.

[0106] The above description describes about the case of performingvarious jobs using the internet received document page. However, it ispossible to move to the various jobs using the FAX received documentpage by the same operation.

[0107] When an address book CGI application is executed, this CGIapplication provides an instruction and received data corresponding tothe processing content to address book generating section 38.

[0108] When a device setting CGI application and a send CGI applicationare executed, an instruction and received data corresponding to theprocessing content are provided to file management section 36.

[0109] The received data is provided to document generating section 37from the delete, edit or move CGI application. When the reception listprocessing is a delete, the delete CGI application provides the documentnumber that is entered on the HTML document page in FIG. 15 as receiveddata to document generating section 37 to instruct to delete thecorresponding document. When the reception list processing is an edit,the edit CGI application provides the document number and edit contentsthat are entered on the HTML document page in FIG. 16 as received datato document generating section 37 to instruct to edit the correspondingdocument. When the reception list processing is a move, the move CGIapplication provides the document number, source folder number andtarget folder number that are entered on the HTML document page in FIG.17 as received data to document generating section 37 to instruct tomove the corresponding document.

[0110] FGI. 13 illustrates a flowchart when document generating section37 operates by the request data for requesting the CGI processing. Thedocument number provided from the CGI application is searched in theHTML file of the reception list (ST1101). Next, it is decided whether ornot the request data instructs the edit processing (ST1102).

[0111] For example, when an edit of the internet reception list isinstructed as CGI processing, document generating section 37 reads outthe HTML file of the internet reception list from external storage 4,and searches a position of the document number of the edit object.Document generating section 37 replaces the data of the correspondingdocument number (title, sender and others) with the edited data(received data) (ST1103).

[0112] The rewrite of a portion in the HTML file of the internetreception list is finished when the HTML file of the internet receptionlist, in which the data of the corresponding document number is replacedwith the edited data, is returned to external storage 4.

[0113] On the other hand, when the edit processing is not instructed,the corresponding document number is anyway deleted from the currentposition in the reception list HTML file because the processing exceptfor an edit is a delete or a move. Therefore, when it is decided thatthe processing instructed in ST1102 is not the edit, the data of thecorresponding document number is deleted from the reception list HTMLfile (ST1104).

[0114] It is next decided whether or not the CGI application instructsas the CGI processing a document move between the reception lists (forexample, internet reception list to FAX reception list) (ST1105).

[0115] When a document move is instructed, the HTML files of source andtarget reception lists respectively from/to which the document is movedare both already read out from external storage 4 at ST1101. Since thecorresponding document number is already deleted in the HTML files ofthe source reception, the data of the corresponding document number isadded to the HTML file of the target reception list (ST1106). The moveof document data between the reception lists is finished when thereception list in which the data of the corresponding document number isdeleted and another reception list to which the data of thecorresponding document number is added are stored in external storage 4.In addition, when the move of document data is not executed, thedocument data is just deleted from the reception list.

[0116] As described above, since WWW server section 12 transmits thereception list operation page (delete, edit or move) in response to arequest from client machine 202, client machine 20 transmits the dataand operation content (delete, edit or move) that are entered by a usercorresponding to the reception list operation page to WWW server section12, and document list generating section 37 at WWW server section 12reflects the user entered data in the HTML file of reception listcorresponding to the operation content, the user is able to modify thereception list in homepage format provided from WWW server section 12.

[0117] In addition, as the premise that the address book processing isexecuted at ST111, the necessary data is entered on the HTML documentpage at client machine 202. At ST706 in the flowchart illustrated inFIG. 9, an address book icon is selected instead of internet receptionlist icon on the main page of the homepage (HTML document page)illustrated in FIG. 11. According to this processing, the file requestfor the address book HTML file linked to the address book icon isprovided to WWW server section 12.

[0118] The HTML file of address book is registered at external storage 4at the server side. In WWW server section 12, file providing section 35requests file management section 36 to read out an address book html inresponse to the file request from client machine 202, while transmits aHTML file of read address book html to client machine 202.

[0119] The address book-page composed of the HTML document according tothe address book HTML file received by the WWW browser is displayed on ascreen of client machine 202.

[0120]FIG. 18 illustrates the HTML document page of address book. Inthis embodiment, the address book page is composed of addressinformation having name, type, address and check icon, and a frame menuwith icons such as add, delete and edit lined up. A symbol indicative ofFAX or e-mail is described in a column of a type. In a column of anaddress, a telephone number is described when the type is FAX and ane-mail address is described when the type is e-mail.

[0121] When a user operates the content of the address book that isregistered in homepage format at the WWW server side, the user is ableto select a job corresponding to the operation content among from theframe menu.

[0122] When the user selects an “add” icon, the WWW browser at clientmachine 202 provides a file request for the HTML file linked to the“add” icon to WWW server section 12.

[0123] When WWW server section 12 receives the file request, WWW servercommunication section 31 notifies file providing section 35 of a filenumber of the HTML file linked to the “add” icon. File providing section35 fetches the corresponding file from external storage 4 through filemanagement section 36 to transmit to client machine 202. FIG. 19illustrates a structure example of a HTML document page used in addingan address from the reception list.

[0124] The user enters a name of an address to be added in a column ofname, enters FAX or e-mail in a column of type, further enters a FAXnumber or e-mail address in a column of address, and then selects adetermine-button. When the determine-button is selected, the addressbook CGI application is selected as an application type, and the requestdata, in which information on the address to be added is set, istransmitted to WWW server section 12.

[0125] When the user selects a “delete” icon, the WWW browser at clientmachine 202 provides a file request for the HTML file linked to the“delete” icon to WWW server section 12. WWW server section 12 transmitsthe HTML file linked to the “delete” icon to client machine 202 throughthe process of the case of “add”.

[0126]FIG. 20 illustrates a structure example of a HTML document pageused in deleting an address from the address book. A user enters a nameand address of the delete object respectively in columns of name andaddress (telephone number or e-mail address) and then selects adetermine-button. When the determine-button is selected, the addressbook CGI application is set as an application type, and the requestdata, in which the number of the delete object is set, is transmitted toWWW server section 12.

[0127] When a user selects an “edit” icon, the WWW browser at clientmachine 202 provides a file request for the HTML file linked to the“edit” icon to WWW server section 12.

[0128] When WWW server section 12 receives the file request, WWW servercommunication section 31 notifies file providing section 35 of a filenumber of the HTML file linked to the “edit” icon. File providingsection 35 fetches the corresponding file from external storage 4through file management section 36 to transmit to client machine 202.FIG. 21 illustrates a structure example of a HTML document page used inediting a name and address in the address book. The user enters anedited name and/or address for a column of edit object, and then selectsa determine-button. When the determine-button is selected, the addressbook CGI application is set as an application type, and the requestdata, in which the edit address number is set, is transmitted to WWWserver section 12.

[0129]FIG. 22 illustrates a flowchart when address book generatingsection 37 operates according to request data for requesting CGIprocessing. Address book generating section 38 receives an instructionindicative of the CGI processing content (add, delete and edit), andreceived data (name and address) from the address CGI application, whilefetches the HTML file of address book from external storage 4.

[0130] Address book generating section 38 decides whether or not theinstruction indicates an add of address (ST1201), and adds added addressand name to the HTML file of address book when the instruction indicatesthe add of address (ST1202).

[0131] On the other hand, when the instruction does not indicate an addof address, address book generating section 37 deletes the correspondingaddress data contained in the received data from the HTML file ofaddress book because the processing to be executed is edit or delete(ST1203). It is next decided whether or not the instruction indicates anedit of address book (ST1204). When the instruction indicates the edit,address book generating section 37 searches the corresponding addressfrom the HTML file and replaces the corresponding address with theedited address data and/or name (ST1205). The latest address data isthus reflected in the homepage of the address book by writing the HTMLfile of the changed address book into external storage 4.

[0132] AS described above, since WWW server section 12 is able toprovide an address book in homepage format to client machine 202, anddisplay a HTML document page to add or modify (delete or edit) anaddress of address book in response to a request from client machine 202on a screen of client machine 202, and the user entered added ormodified data and the operation content are provided to address bookgenerating section 38 to be reflected in the HTML file of address file,the user is able to add and modify the content of the address bookprovided in homepage format from WWW server section 12 using clientmachine 202.

[0133] The network facsimile apparatus has panel section 7 and a shortdial table in which a short dial is related to telephone number ande-mail address. When a user pushes down the short dial, thecorresponding telephone number or e-mail data is read from the shortdial table to be provided to FAX/speech communication section 9 ore-mail communication section 13. Then, FAX/speech communication section9 calls to the provided telephone number to transmit facsimile data, ore-mail communication section 13 transmits e-mail data to the providede-mail address from network controller 10.

[0134] The above-described short dial table is added or modifiedarbitrary by a user. However, the rewrite in the short dial table is notreflected in the address book in homepage format provided to the userfrom WWW server section 12. Therefore, another processing is necessaryto correctly matches the short dial table and the content of the HTMLfile of address book.

[0135] In order to execute the processing, address book generatingsection 38 executes incorporation processing of the address book withthe address book CGI application. When the power of the networkfacsimile apparatus is turned on, the data of short dial table istransferred to address book generating section 38. Meanwhile, the HTMLfile of address book is read out from external storage 4. The telephonenumbers and e-mail addresses registered in the short dial table that aretransferred are incorporated in the HTML file of address book. Accordingto this processing, the content of the short dial table and the contentof the HTML file of address book are matched. The processed HTML file ofaddress book is returned to external storage 4.

[0136] The operation to set a storage period of a document registered inthe homepage will be described next. In above-described ST706, when auser setting icon is selected on the homepage main page, a file requestfor the HTML file linked to the user setting icon is transmitted to WWWserver section 12 from client machine 202. When WWW server section 12receives the file request for the HTML file of user setting, fileproviding section 35 fetches the corresponding user setting html fromexternal storage 4 to transmit to client machine 202.

[0137] The WWW browser at client machine 202 displays a user settingpage using the user setting html on a screen. FIG. 23 illustrates astructure example of the user setting page. The user setting page iscomposed so that a storage period can be set for every FAX receiveddocument and every network received document. 1 day, 1 week and 1 monthare set as a storage period in the example illustrated in FIG. 23,however it may be possible to make a structure for enabling any settingof storage period. When a user selects a storage period and a documenttype on the user setting page and selects a setting button, the set datais transmitted to WWW server section 12 along with the CGI processingrequest for a device setting CGI application.

[0138] In WWW server section 12, CGI application deciding section 33provides the CGI processing request to the device setting CGIapplication. The device setting CGI application provides setting datasuch as a storage period and a document type to file management section36 to request a change of device setting.

[0139] File management section 36 manages storage periods of documentsstored at external storage 4 (various types of HTML file, TIFF filegroup and speech file group). When file management section 36 receivesan instruction for changing a storage period from the device setting CGIapplication, file management section 36 rewrites a tale in which astorage period of the corresponding type is registered according to theinstruction content.

[0140]FIG. 24 is a flowchart concerning a document storage management byfile management section 36. File management section 36 manages storageperiods on a unit basis for every document type. When file managementsection 36 detects that one day has passed since the data of receiving adocument whose storage period is 1 day (ST1221), file management section36 deletes the corresponding document (ST1222). When file managementsection 36 detects that one week has passed since the data of receivinga document whose storage period is 1 week (ST1223), file managementsection 36 deletes the corresponding document (ST1224). Further, whenfile management section 36 detects that one month has passed since thedata of receiving a document whose storage period is 1 month, filemanagement section 36 deletes the corresponding document (ST1225).

[0141] As described above, since a document storage period (devicesetting) is displayed on a HTML document page designated by a user atclient machine 202 in response to a request from client machine 202, andthe data and device setting instruction entered by the user is providedto WWW server section 12 to be reflected in the management table in filemanagement section 36, the document storage period (device setting) canbe set using client machine 202 in the same operation as accessing to ahomepage.

[0142] The present invention is not limited to the above describedembodiments, and various variations and modifications may be possiblewithout departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0143] This application is based on the Japanese Patent Application No.HEI 10-372959 filed on Dec. 28, 1998, entire content of which isexpressly incorporated by reference herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication apparatus connected to a terminalapparatus via a network, the communication apparatus comprising: amemory that stores image data and a storage period of the image data; achecker that determines whether a storage time of the image data exceedsthe storage period time; a deleter that deletes image based on adetermination by said checker; and a server that transmits aninstructions for changing the storage period to the terminal apparatusin accordance with a request by the terminal apparatus, wherein thestorage period is changeable from the terminal apparatus.
 2. Thecommunication apparatus according to claim 1, the instruction includingan image file.
 3. The communication apparatus according to claim 2,wherein said server transmits the image file, including a plurality ofpredetermined periods, and changes a storage period in accordance with adesignation of one of the predetermined periods of the image file at theterminal apparatus.
 4. The communication apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the image file comprises a HTML file.
 5. The communicationapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage period is changeablefor a group of plurality of image data by a single instruction.
 6. Thecommunication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image datacomprises facsimile data transmitted by a facsimile communication via atelephone network.
 7. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the image data comprises e-mail data transmitted by an e-mailcommunication via the network.
 8. A communication method using acommunication apparatus connected to a terminal apparatus via a networkcomprising: storing image data and a storage period of the image data;determining whether a storage time of the image data exceeds the storageperiod; deleting image data based on a result of the determination; andtransmitting an instruction for changing the storage period to theterminal apparatus in accordance with a request by the terminalapparatus, wherein the storage period is changeable from the terminalapparatus.
 9. The communication method according to claim 8, theinstruction including an image file.
 10. The communication methodaccording to claim 9, wherein the transmitting transmits the image fileincluding a plurality of predetermined periods, and changes a storageperiod in accordance with a designation of one of the predeterminedperiods of the image file at the terminal apparatus.
 11. Thecommunication method according to claim 9, wherein the image filecomprises a HTML file.
 12. The communication method according to claim8, wherein the storage period is changeable for a group of a pluralityof image data by a single instruction.
 13. The communication methodaccording to claim 8, wherein the image data comprises facsimile datatransmitted by a facsimile communication via a telephone network. 14.The communication method according to claim 8, wherein the image datacomprises e-mail data transmitted by an e-mail communication via thenetwork.